A bicycle's tale of a February day

The sun rose to highlight a crisp, cold day, clearly still winter here in New England. I knew for the sake of my sanity that today's exercise needed to be some sort of outdoor play, but I decided to wait until the sun had a chance to warm the air before I ventured out either walking or riding.

Mid-afternoon, it was time to (finally) get moving. Brrr! It was still a bit chilly out. Temperatures in the high 20s, wind blowing, it seemed like a good day for walking. I headed out walking, quickly warmed up, and oops! time to turn around and heed the call of my two-wheeled steed. You'd think I would have learned from Monday's experience that if I had any fleeting desire to ride that I should head out on my bicycle and not on foot. Apparently that lesson didn't stick with me last week; maybe today's will.

A tale of a ride, as told by my purple bicycle...

We (Denise's bicycles) really didn't understand why she headed out on foot today. We knew that she would be back sooner than she expected, and we knew that one of us would be rolling down the road with her very soon. After all, it was a beautiful day - even though it was a bit chilly. The temperatures were in the high 20s, and that stuff Denise refers to as wind was blowing. We've ridden in colder temperatures and on windier days before. And we just knew that riding was the perfect solution to Denise's winter funk.

Yes, it was a bit cold out. We don't feel the cold event though Denise does. It's late enough in the winter that she has finally figured out the right layers to wear, so she was quite comfortable. And there was a huge plus to the below freezing temperatures - the road was dry. We rolled in loops not too far from home, chatting with dogs walking down the road with their owners, passing still frozen ponds, and even seeing some other cyclists braving the cold. We didn't stay out terribly long - an hour and a half on the road on this cold winter's day. It was a good ride.

As we wait for spring to arrive, it's time for Denise to remember that riding - even on a cold day - makes her happy.